This invention relates to orthopaedic hip braces and in particular to hinged braces to stabilize a hip joint during healing.
Before this invention, a patient suffering from a hip injury was typically put in a cast. While the cast served the purpose of stabilizing the hip joint, it presented many problems.
The casts were bulky, heavy, and cumbersome. The patient was fixed in a rigid position which made handling and transporting the patient difficult. Thus, while in the cast, the patient's life was severely restricted. Often the patient was completely bedridden. Even proper bathing was impossible, which presented hygiene problems. Furthermore, the casts were notoriously uncomfortable.
A serious problem with the casts was the atrophy of the muscles and deterioration of joints caused by the complete immobilization for long periods of time. This debilitation affected not only the muscle and joints in the cast, but the surrounding muscles and joints which were not used while the patient was immobile. It was not uncommon that upon removal of the cast the patient was so weakened that the patient could not walk for months afterward, and had great difficulty in bending over for a long time afterward.